Ann Arbor has been a desolate place since all of the students have departed for their respective homes......it kinda reminds me of the summer when Ann Arbor is a peaceful, pleasant town that feels more like a great place to live rather than a crowded college town. I love Ann Arbor regardless of the state of the fluctuating population, it is just more easy-paced without the undergrads all over the place. :)
I went to the mall this afternoon to buy my sister and Josh a Christmas present and I made it in and out of that madhouse within 35 minutes! I was on a mission, weaving through the crowd, walking by all of the parents and their children in the ENDLESS line to visit with "the big guy" (not that one, the one who wears the red suit), and making split-second decisions regarding the appropriate gift to buy. I got Josh this great music-instrument set from the Discovery Channel Store. It has a drum (that duals as a container to hold all of the other musical instruments), a set of maracas, a tambourine, a recorder (as in flute-thingy), and a mini rain stick.
The guy at the counter and I had an interesting exchange:
guy at counter: kids love these [instrument set], but parents aren't too thrilled.
me: yeah, it is for my nephew and he lives with me, so I'm bringing this upon myself.
guy at counter: nice. good luck with that.
We opened all of our presents from each other and from our mom while we listened to classic Christmas music. It was nice :)
On a completely unrelated subject, thanks to Kara for introducing me to Matt Pond PA!! I downloaded their latest CD "Several Arrows Later" tonight as a gift to myself in preparation for the 9 hour car trip tomorrow. And I'm lovin' it. My favorite song so far is "It Is Safe". Once I get more money I'll download the "Emblems" CD that has "Lily Two" on it.....
Oh, I live for new, great, beautiful music.
So I leave for Tennessee in about 7 hours. Darn. I should get some sleep. You never know what grandma will throw your way, so I gotta be alert, on my toes, and prepared to field all imaginable questions and appropriately react to random comments. She's a wiley one.....which is why I love her :).
Here is a pic of our beautiful tree:
3 comments:
Wow, that IS a big tree! Pretty! Glad you like the matt pond, and have a nice trip to TN!
Merry Christmas! i hope you had a safe trip and enjoy your time back in TN. we'll see you back in A2!--
Neen:
matt pond PA is awesome. Emblems was one of my top 3 albums I bought in '05. If you're looking for more good music, try Sufjan Stevens. His album Illinois is probably my favorite of '05.
-Markus in ATL
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